Alone in a crowd
by backstagespotlight
Summary: A short one-shot story of the interaction between two lonely souls. No 'ships, no spoilers, kind of a venting piece. Has no part in my AU. Flack is feeling very alone. Is he the only one?


_This is a very depressing reflection that I made today during one of the downswings of my mood. Isn't it funny how some of our greatest days are also our worst, like we're afraid to be too happy? I don't usually even like fics like this one, because they don't really put the characters in authentic situations, but I need someone to hear this tonight, so that you don't feel alone, or so you can recognize the pain someone close to you may be feeling. You might be the one person who decides whether someone cries sad teas or happy ones._

_--_

Don Flack watched skaters circle the rink at the Rockefeller Center from his position by the wall. Lindsay had convinced Danny that Lucy needed a yearly tradition, so the almost three year old was currently tucked close to her mother's legs being propelled around the rink. Danny skated close to Lindsay's side, even more wobbly than his little girl.

Flack watched the kids zoom happily around the rink, and the ones who pulled themselves cautiously around its edges. He watched the couple play happily. Usually one half of the couple was more skilled, skating backwards or simply offering support to the other. He watched the groups of teenage girls giggle the whole time.

He felt so out of place there. Since Jess's death a year and a half ago, he'd barely dated, so there was no one he could ask to double date with his friends. He had no one to talk with, to laugh with, to pick him up if he fell. _No one skates by themselves here_, he thought ruefully.

The instant he mused this, a girl, really a young woman, skated past him. He remembered seeing her step onto the rink an hour earlier as he and the Messers stood in line for their skates because her red beret matched her red winter coat, and a bright rainbow scarf peeked out from her collar. He couldn't remember seeing her talk to anyone. As he studied her, she leaned out over the railing and scanned the passing crowd in either direction. Apparently seeing no one she knew, she turned, resting her back and her elbows against the rail and sighed. He couldn't be sure, but he thought he saw her blink back a few stray tears. Concerned, he skated shakily over to her; for being a hockey fan, he hadn't spent much time on his blades. He stopped awkwardly a few feet away from her.

"You here alone?" he asked. The young woman gave a sort of half laugh.

"It's that obvious?" she asked. He chuckled.

"Only to me, since I'm the only other person here alone," he assured her.

"Well, with a group of 45 people, you would think more would be here," she said. Her tone was somewhere between bitter and resigned, like she was used to dealing with this kind of situation, but wasn't truly happy about it.

Don nodded in agreement and took a moment to study her. Physically, he'd put her at around 20 years of age, five foot six or so without the skates. Unruly brown curls tried to escape from under the red felt beret she was currently trying to adjust. By all appearances, she was a very pulled together young lady, but her eyes spoke volumes. She could have passed of their melancholy as fatigue at first, but upon closer study, it seemed they were only barely containing the tears that gathered. He wasn't sure what prompted his next action, but he held out his arm.

"Whats say we pretend like neither one of us is actually alone?" he asked. She hesitated, and nodded, but didn't take his offered arm. Instead, they skated side by side and discussed the weather, the holidays. She often stopped to make sure a fallen child was alright, and offer a steadying arm to children who encountered human roadblocks on the railings. The more he saw of her, the prettier she became. The heaviness left her eyes and was replaced by a sparkle. He even saw her start to dance to the music a couple times.

Soon Danny and Lindsay were ready to go, so Flack had to leave as well. Luckily, Cate, as he had discovered her name was, had spotted some friends. They parted on amiable terms, fully knowing they would probably never meet again, but glad that for just a short time they didn't have to be alone in the crowd.

--

_So, this is what I wish could have happened today… my friends all went to a Plain White T's concert I wasn't interested in, and my school was paying for us to go ice skating at Millennium Park, so I went over there, thinking I'd see other people from school there. Not only was I the first one there, I was the only one from my group for over an hour. There is no activity as lonely as ice skating solo in a very public place… Truth be told, I'm not sure what I would have done in this situation, but I wish that I had been given the choice. My friends did eventually show up and I did get to skate with them, but I've been really emotional lately and it just felt like I was all alone in the world._


End file.
